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Marmite’s Summer of Love

We all know how the Marmite marketing spiel traditionally goes. But this summer “it’s time to be a lover, not a hater”.Usually Marmite adverts put the spotlight on their haters. This summer the brand has been flipped on its head, and it’s all about the love. Taking inspiration from the summer of 1967 and the hippies of San Francisco, the latest Marmite advert looks set to encourage even its most devoted despisers to give it one more go.

An online video campaign focuses around a hippie cat fighting it out lyrically with a rock monster who describes Marmite as a ‘taste crime’. In the end the love cat triumphs, sashaying off into the sunset with a face splattered in Marmite.

As well as the video there are posters advertising the ‘Summer of Love not Hate’ all over the tube and bus stops. Psychedelic limited edition Summer of Love jars are available until September, with just 94 evil Summer of Hate versions snuck into the yeasty mix as well – we assume by that dastardly rock monster. The campaign will also feature a Marmite Love Café set to open in London in August.

Assistant brand manager for Marmite, Philippa Atkinson, has said they want to encourage the haters to be lovers: “With an innate ability to create talkability and buzz, Marmite owns a unique territory and we aim to build on this.”

Of course behind the new advert is a new product, with the Summer of Love spreads offering a lighter flavour that mixes bitter and lager yeast. This is in response to sales figures that fell 10.3% last year, pushing it behind Nutella in the spreads market.

Whether this new campaign manages to convert the biggest haters remains to be seen, but it’s interesting that Marmite has chosen to embrace the haters, asking them to give the bitter spread one more chance.

Love or hate the new Marmite ad? Let us know by leaving a comment or tweeting us @strattoncraig